Lonely Trek to the Polls for Many Voters

There's been heated debate. There have been critical issues. There have been major political positions up for grabs. But all the afore-mentioned ingredients have failed again to produce a recipe for voter turnout beyond a small fraction of the registered population.

"It's your decision if you don't want to come out and vote," said Bryan voter John Levens. "It's also your privilege if you do vote. Then, you're taking advantage of the American way of voting."

This Saturday, there was even a spice of nice weather to add to the mix. Still, the long walk to the polls is increasingly lonely. Most of the time, politicians' signs populate the polling places more than the voters.

"It makes me feel very bad," said Bryan voter Lila Palmer. "I really hate it. I wish more people would get more involved and really become involved in voting and electingour officials."

Early voting is usually indicative of what's going to happen on election day as far as turnout goes. In the city of Bryan, early voting turnout was fairly low, while in College Station, it was above average.

Still, the elections -- which cost each city upwards of $30,000 to hold -- draw less than 10 percent of voters. Each city counts 40,000 citizens as registered. Each city has around 70 workers out at the polls. But with all the debate, all the issues, all the positions up for grabs, all the sunshine, the walk remains lonely.

"That's something that's baffled me," said College Station voter Marty Cangelose. "I don't know how you get people to turn out and vote. There's got to be certain issues that get them out here, but it's a mystery to me why we have such low turn out all the time. That's something that I don't even understand."

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Steve Fullhart anchors First News at Four and News 3 at Five weekdays, and serves as KBTX's managing editor. He joined the Brazos Valley’s news leader in May 2004 and has anchored, reported for and produced every newscast at KBTX over his time at the station.